SHIRLEY -- In a rehash of the presentation he gave at the Jan. 23 Ayer Shirley Regional School District School Committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Carl Mock told the Shirley Finance Committee how the state's new formula, designed to finish the Chapter 70 equity reforms of 2007, has changed the fiscal 2014 assessments for Ayer and Shirley.

Because Ayer has been paying a significant amount above the Required Local Contribution over the past six years, its RLC is now on a par with the state target figure. Shirley, on the other hand, has been paying significantly less than the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's target figure for RLC. Its fiscal 2014 RLC is projected to be $202,963 below the DESE target.

As a result, the assessment for Shirley will increase by $260,699, which changes net school spending above the local contribution.

The other cost driver in the fiscal 2014 school budget, said Mock, is a $320,000 increase in special-education costs, including $185,000 for special-education transportation.

"That totals about $550,000 in the red with regard to special-education costs," said Mock. "To cover that cost we will essentially use up the $400,000 brought in for the formation of the region, and most of the excess $150,000."

He said that he did not think that the district would qualify for extraordinary aid because it had not hit the 25 percent threshold.

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With respect to special education, the district added back in the $100,000 taken out of last year's budget for its therapeutic program at the high school.

With nearly half of the transportation costs of $1,209,483 in fiscal 2014 going for special education, Mock said that is important for the district to continue improving its in-house therapeutic programs.

"If we don't do something at the high school, I can guarantee you that our out-of-district placements will go up," he said.

Only eight special-education students accounted for a more than $800,000 increase in the budget this year.

"Just one student cost over $185,000, so that is the magnitude you are talking about with the out-of-district piece," he said.

Some good news is that the cost of borrowing the first $4 million for the bond for the high-school renovation will be about half of what had been anticipated, due to low interest rates.

"Ayer's adjusted amount for their relative proportion of the middle-school debt is more than what the district will have to pay for interest," Mock said.

"So whatever is left will go for the purpose of having those monies for Shirley. When they get to the point that their portion of the debt comes due, they can apply this.

"That stabilization money goes for Shirley's use to defray the cost of the high-school project. That reflects the money that is the adjustment for the high school debt for Ayer."

Mock added that the school district had originally not anticipated any increase in Chapter 70 aid. Since it received $44,000, the assessment dropped somewhat.

The school budget presented to the School Committee on Jan. 8 reflected no change in the RLC, because at that time it was yet to be determined.

Now that the new formula for RLC is out, Shirley's assessment is $165,390 higher than anticipated in the Jan. 8 budget; Ayer's is $209,590 less.

"The required local contribution has really thrown the whole thing into kilter," said Mock, referring the committee to an assessment change analysis showing that for Shirley, the increase form fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2013 was only about $6,300.

"But for fiscal year 2013 to 2014, you're looking at about $260,000," he said.

Mock said that it is his understanding that the state "sort of set aside the progress to be made, so it backed off that effort to bring the RLC and the DESE targets into play.

"But next year it appears that they have gone back to doing that with a pretty substantial increase for Shirley," Mock said.

"It goes back 10 to 15 years ago," said Finance Committee Vice Chairman Mike Swanton. "Shirley was the beneficiary -- we got more than our fair share of state aid. For whatever reasons we did very well with Chapter 70 relative to a lot of other towns in the area.

"The good news is that we made out pretty well. The bad news is that other towns said it's not fair; you are giving some towns more.

"As I recall, there was a change in the way the state viewed Chapter 70 aid, so there was this fundamental thought that it should be more fair across the Commonwealth."

Mock said his main concern was on the Chapter 70 side. "This is two years in a row that we won't get very much of an increase in state aid, and all that is going to go on the assessment side," he stated.

"Everybody knew that this would come home to roost," said Finance Committee member Bob Schuler.

"But when people are presented with this they will be aghast and say, 'Where did this come from?' " replied Swanton. "They won't make the connection over what happened six years ago."

Kolarik suggested looking into a method of appealing the amount of the RLC to have it recomputed or adjusted.

"Whatever is going to happen is going to have to happen rather quickly," said Mock.

"You are really talking about the sustainability of the region," said Mock. "From where I sit, we are at a very critical juncture here in terms of the sustainability of this whole affair, and I'm not sure if everybody understood how much it would take to get us up and running.

"Medicaid was lost as a result of the new region, and the $300,000 in transition money was not sufficient. In our community we are trying to make up, per the regional agreement, its above RLC expenses, and it's also going to get a double whammy. Plus the fact that the regionalization incentive money has not made it into the budget each year without intervention by the Legislature.

"My pitch is that we went into this with a very slim margin to begin with, so in terms of going forward, I make a pitch to get the leadership group together. Ayer has to be in on this, and our legislators have to be there."

"We need to get people up to speed on what the situation is and what the drivers are. We have to get the emotion out of the situation we find ourselves in, and the sooner we get past that, the sooner we can get it resolved," Swanton concluded.

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